Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
In the last two weeks, Kamala Harris has been trying to revive her stagnant campaign by smearing Trump as being Hitlerian and a fascist. She claims Trump is planning to put his enemies in encampments.
Yet in the modern era, it was not Trump who put large numbers of U.S. residents and citizens into “relocation camps,” but liberal Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt who sent Japanese-American citizens and residents into them.
If Harris refers to Trump’s supposed fascist policies during his prior four-year tenure, there is no such evidence.
Nonetheless, the once “joyful” Harris is ending her campaign by trafficking in lies and smears reminiscent of the Joe McCarthy era.
Recall that fascists hijack law enforcement and the military to suspend constitutional rights and punish enemies. But Trump did neither.
Instead, in 2016, a corrupt FBI went after Trump himself during the Obama administration with the bogus Steele dossier.
The FBI, which in 2016 had hired the faker Steele, in 2020, fused with social media to suppress accurate news reporting of the embarrassing Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
A number of FBI directors and intelligence officials—John Brennan, James Clapper, James Comey, Andrew McCabe—who openly sought to destroy Trump had a long history of either lying or feigning amnesia under oath.
Fascists try to warp the legal system. But Trump’s own Justice Department selected an independent special counsel to investigate the invented Russian collusion accusations against him.
In vast contrast, the Biden Justice Department coordinated with Georgia prosecutors Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, special counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James to prosecute Trump, bankrupt him, and keep off the campaign trail.
Fascists use their governments to destroy their enemies.
During Trump’s term, for the first time in history, the House of Representatives impeached a first-term president twice. And in another first, the Senate tried Trump as a private citizen.
A self-styled “anonymous” federal official bragged openly of deliberately, and likely unlawfully, leading a bureaucratic cabal to sabotage Trump’s lawful executive orders.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, in collusion with other bureaucrats, deliberately leaked a classified presidential phone call in an effort to ensure that Trump was impeached.
Fascists seek to change existing laws to destroy opponents and illegally consolidate power.
Currently, it is only the Democrats who seek to pack the court, destroy the Electoral College, end the Senate filibuster, and create two new states and thus gain four left-wing senators.
In key states, they radically changed voting laws.
As a result, roughly 70 percent of voters in 2020 did not cast their ballots in person on Election Day—even as the traditional rejection rates for fraudulent ballots mysteriously dived amid the influx.
Fascists arbitrarily nullify any laws they feel do not aid their agendas. Biden-Harris destroyed immigration law in order to bring in more than 12 million illegal aliens and gain new constituencies.
They also protected sanctuary cities, as some 600 such jurisdictions illegally and with impunity nullified federal immigration laws in neo-Confederate fashion.
Fascists seek to politicize the military.
But in Trump’s case, his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, brazenly violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice by libeling Trump as a fascist.
Worse still, Milley sabotaged the chain of command by ordering theater commanders to report directly to him in times of serious crises.
And in near-treasonous fashion, Milley contacted his Chinese communist counterpart in the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that he would warn the Chinese military before carrying out any Trump order he felt existentially dangerous.
Some of the most prominent retired four-star military officers—again in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice—publicly smeared Trump as a coward, liar, fascist, Hitler-like, a Mussolini, a creator of Auschwitz-like death camps, and worthy of being removed “the sooner the better.”
Fascists seek to control and weaponize the media. So, Facebook and Twitter both conspired with the FBI to censure news accounts favorable to Trump. The major newspapers, social media corporations, television networks, and public broadcasting systematically and continually attacked Trump, censured his supporters, and fused with his opponents.
Why then the charges of Trump the fascist and Hitler reincarnation?
Simple. Harris’s personal negatives are rising, her polls inert.
She has abandoned her prior run-out-the-clock avoidance of the media, her smiley “joy” campaign, and instead now embraces the big lie, while Joe Biden writes off Trump supporters as “garbage”.
Harris is now confirming to voters that she really can neither think nor speak well and has no consistent agenda that appeals to the middle class.
So, in final desperation, Harris is smearing Trump as a fascist, even though ironically, he has been the target of fascist machinations from her own party and supporters for nearly a decade.
Kamala Harris is left with nothing but rage, my view. It is a sad state that our nation can ignore the votes of ~14M Democrat primary votes and install this woman as the Democrat candidate.
Sadder still is that anyone, no matter their distaste of Trump, can vote for her….
The “Don’t you see those impressive clothes” effort is wearing very, very thin.
I wonder if Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment wasn’t purposefully done. As we are in the midst of subterfuge, is it beyond the pale to think that Jill Biden is furious with regard to the obvious coup against her husband? Yes, we all know that Biden was incapable during the entirety of his presidency. If Tucker Carlson’s information is correct, Biden was actually diagnosed with dementia in 2019. Neverthelss, this did not affect the ‘joy’ with which Jill Biden pursued and portrayed, her role as First Lady. I have a sneaking suspicion that, in private chambers, Jill Biden is fuming at what the powers that be have done to her dream, and her husband. I wouldn’t put it past the Biden clan to attempt to sabotage whatever (hopefully minimal) chance Harris has at becoming president and destroying the US.
I agree that Dr Jill is likely extremely pissed.
However, we are talking about Joe Biden here.
I do not believe he has the mental capacity to pull off a well-timed, campaign-killing move like this one. It was perfect.
However, he is destined for the trash bin of history.
We call that a button. You may laugh now.
Regarding the Biden administration as a whole, consider Trump sitting in the trash truck: Garbage in, garbage out.
That would be button #2.
Here’s a five-bullet summary:
1. Smear Tactics: Harris attempts to label Trump as fascist to boost her campaign, despite lacking evidence.
2. Legal Targeting: Democrats, under Biden, coordinated legal actions against Trump, contrasting with Trump’s independent investigations into his own accusations.
3. Opposition from Within: Military leaders and officials allegedly acted to undermine Trump’s authority.
4. Voting and Power Moves: Democrats pushed election law changes and court-packing proposals to secure advantage.
5. Media Bias: Mainstream media and social platforms suppressed pro-Trump news, framing him as fascist to distract from Harris’s campaign issues.
This approach is classic projection. If Harris wins, I’ll stay and legally resist—it’s my duty to stand up against real fascism.
Thanks, Victor, for pointing out the Uniform Code of Conduct for generals & other military personnel. It immediately crossed my mind when these statements were made.
Aside from the illegality, these generals & other high-ranking officers seem to be angry about being fired or relieved of duty, whether for reasons of future employment, hubris or both.
Victor – Thank you for an excellent review of all the injustices done by the Left and its media.
The accumulation of lies, smear, and dirty tricks is near impossible to keep up with and your summary is very helpful.
P.S. All Americans need to read this article. If Leftist slander was the only reason to vote for Trump, then all Americans should do so now.
Traditional democrat voters can save this country by voting for Trump.
Make America Sane Again – Vote for Trump
There are times when every nation is in dire peril from without and sometimes from within. This feels like a time of civic division more serious than any seen since the mid-1800’s. Our national fabric is under assault by forces dedicated to the proposition of tyranny and fascism. While many elections have seemed hotly contested, especially national elections, this cycle has a dangerous feel to it. We are not a docile people yet rarely provoked to general violence. Another 2020 style paroxysm of rioting, violence, foment and turmoil may be a trigger point for a backlash unseen in decades, if not a century or more. It would not end well for us, and those who provoked such destruction. As Thomas Sowell wisely counseled: “once the dam breaks you can’t tell the water where to go”.
I sometimes point out that the Democrats label anyone they don’t like as a fascist and try to put them in jail, but the Allies never even bothered putting any actual Fascists on trial. We made them rebrand themselves for our domestic public consumption, but many kept their parliament seats. Sophia Loren’s sister married Mussolini’s youngest son, Benito’s granddaughter Rachelle Mussolini is the most popular politician on the Council of Rome, and his other granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, represents Italy in the European Parliament. In sum, zero prosecutions of Fascists, even ones who committed major war crimes.
Thanks again Professor Hanson for another superb analysis. I am a simple person. Kamala Harris is perhaps an even more simple person. She has witnessed her boss for the. past nearly 4 years perform as President of the United States of America. She undoubtedly thought to herself, “Hell, I can do that job as well as he does.” She might be correct. I too could probably perform as well. Doesn’t mean anything except America would wind up as an inept, bankrupt, third world joke of a county. At least I know what a disaster I would be trying to be President. We don’t need Kamala or me. We need Donald J Trump to Make America Great again.
My comment is not nuanced. I’ll say clearly that at least half of all Americans need to see a squeaky clean election to accept the result.
So far, the “irregularities” that have been made public don’t seem to be large enough to change a swing state vote. The Dominion System “bug and patch” that makes voters think they did a straight line party vote but it doesn’t then select the down ballot party candidates is bad.
The patch Dominion is downloading is after their election system has been “certified and secured”. I was in the software business and this should never ever happen. WTF.
America and her CONSTITUTION are on the edge of a precipice! The main author of our Constitution wrote: “Freedom is not the natural state of mankind. Without a shield to protect individual rights and the strength to hold that shield in place, TYRANNY – the natural state of government – will inevitably return. ”
Fifty years ago, I took an oath to defend and protect our Constitution. I intend to defend it well and have the strength to hold it up against the usurpations of the demented democrats who have proven their desire to tear it to shreds.
We can not afford to be pushed over the edge! The walls of the chasm too steep and the depth of the abyss is too deep.
It is with a sense of pride that I accept the label of “Deplorable” and “Garbage” . I will continue to express the following: 1. Individuals loan political power to Government. And if Government breaches their fiduciary duty, the loan will be called in; 2. I will never let school stand in the way of my education; 3. I will never let church stand in my path to God; 4. If my religion, or my speech, or my expectation of Equal Protection Under the Law is to survive, then I must respect other’s religion, speech, and Protection Under the Law; and 5. For any Society to survive, there must be both unity of action and diversity of thoughts. All of these God given truths are within the legal framework of our Constitution, which I, as an attorney, have sworn to protect.